Muon decay rings are under study as part of an International Scoping Study (ISS) for a future Neutrino Factory. Both isosceles triangle- and racetrack-shaped rings are being considered for a 20 GeV muon energy, but with upgrade potentials of 40 or 50 GeV. Both rings are designed with long straights to optimize directional muon decay. The neutrinos from muon decay pass to one or two distant detectors; the racetrack ring has one very long production straight aligned with one detector while the triangular ring has two straights which can be aligned with two detectors. Decay ring specifications and lattice studies are the primary topic of this paper. Injection, collimation, and the RF system are covered in a second contribution to these proceedings.

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Electron cyclotron emission (ECE) has been employed as a standard electron temperature profile diagnostic on many tokamaks and stellarators, but most magnetically confined plasma devices cannot take advantage of standard ECE diagnostics to measure temperature. They are either overdense, operating at high density relative to the magnetic field (e.g. {omega}{sub pe} >> {Omega}{sub ce} in a spherical torus) or they have insufficient density and temperature to reach the blackbody condition ({tau} > 2). Electron Bernstein waves (EBWs) are electrostatic waves which can propagate in overdense plasmas and have a high optical thickness at the electron cyclotron resonance layers, as a result of their large K{sub i}. This talk reports on measurements of EBW emission on the CDX-U spherical torus, where B{sub 0} {approx} 2 kG, <n{sub e}> {approx} 10{sup 13} cm{sup -3} and T{sub e} {approx} 10 - 200 eV. Results will be presented for both direct detection of EBWs and for mode-converted EBW emission. The EBW emission was absolutely calibrated and compared to the electron temperature profile measured by a multi-point Thomson scattering diagnostic. Depending on the plasma conditions, the mode-converted EBW radiation temperature was found to be {le} T{sub e} and the emission source was determined to be …

The 17th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research was held at the University of Madison, Wisconsin from June 27- July 2, 2006. ICAR-2006 included approximately 625 scientists from across the world. The scientific program was of excellent quality featuring 73 talks, including 30 from invited speakers. There were also 6 community-organized workshops (facilitated by conference staff) featuring additional talks on topics including ‘Submitting data to long-term repositories,’ ‘TAIR introductory workshop,’ ‘Web services and demonstration,’ ‘Public engagement: broadening the impact of your research,’ ‘Systems biology approaches to analysis of metabolic and regulatory networks of Arabidopsis,’ and ‘Mechanotransduction in Arabidopsis.’ Approximately 440 posters were presented in general topic areas including, among others, Development, Modeling/Other Systems, Energy, Environment, and Genetic/Epigenetic mechanisms. Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, junior faculty, and underrepresented minorities made up a significant portion of the oral presentations thereby promoting the training of young scientists and facilitating important career development opportunities for speakers. Several poster sessions provided an opportunity for younger participants to freely meet with more established scientists. The North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee (NAASC) continued its outreach effort and again sponsored two special luncheons to encourage personal and professional development of young scientists and also underrepresented minorities. The ‘Emerging Scientists Luncheon’ …

Tetrapyrroles are strongly pigmented heterocyclic molecules that play key roles in the harvesting of light and in its efficient conversion into chemical energy by photosynthetic organisms, including agronomically important plant species. This grant provided financial support for the International Conference on Tetrapyrrole Photoreceptors of Photosynthetic Organisms (ICTPPO 2009), the ninth in the series of ad hoc biennial conferences focused on the structure, function and biotechnological applications of tetrapyrrole photoreceptors, held at Asilomar Conference Center, Monterey CA from July 26 to July 31, 2009. The goal of this meeting was to bring together leading experts in the field of tetrapyrrole photoreceptors and from associated fields with new investigators, to provide critical analyses of the current state of their fields, the challenges and opportunities therein and their most recent unpublished discoveries to stimulate new approaches to address key issues of agricultural and energy significance. Among the 80 participants included 40 PIs (including one Nobelist in chemistry, two members of the US National Academy of Science, and a recent inductee to the Royal Society), 8 senior scientists, 1 DOE program manager, 12 postdoctoral fellows and 20 graduate students representing 13 countries. One third of the formal lecture program was reserved for discussion, and …

Absolute calibration of the Pierre Auger Observatory fluorescence detectors uses a light source at the telescope aperture. The technique accounts for the combined effects of all detector components in a single measurement. The calibrated 2.5 m diameter light source fills the aperture, providing uniform illumination to each pixel. The known flux from the light source and the response of the acquisition system give the required calibration for each pixel. In the lab, light source uniformity is studied using CCD images and the intensity is measured relative to NIST-calibrated photodiodes. Overall uncertainties are presently 12%, and are dominated by systematics.

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The first prototype of a new corrector package for the Fermilab Booster Synchrotron is presently in production. This water-cooled package includes normal and skew dipole, quadrupole and sextupole elements to control orbit, tune and chromaticity of the beam over the full range of Booster energies (0.4-8 GeV). These correctors operate at the 15 Hz excitation cycle of the main synchrotron magnets, but must also make more rapid excursions, in some cases even switching polarity in approximately 1 ms at transition crossing. To measure the dynamic field changes during operation, a new method based on a relatively slow rotating coil system is proposed. The method pieces together the measured voltages from successive current cycles to reconstruct the field harmonics. This paper describes the method and presents initial field quality measurements from a Tevatron corrector.

Comprehensive design and testing of realistic customer-driven microgrids requires a high performance simulation platform capable of incorporating power system and control models with external hardware systems. Traditional non real-time simulation is unable to fully capture the level of detail necessary to expose real-world implementation issues. With a real-time digital simulator as its foundation, a high-fidelity simulation environment that includes a robust electrical power system model, advanced control architecture, and a highly adaptable communication network is introduced. Hardware-in-the-loop implementation approaches for the hardware-based control and communication systems are included. An overview of the existing power system model and its suitability for investigation of autonomous island formation within the microgrid is additionally presented. Further test plans are also documented.

A shielded cask is used to transport radioactive materials between facilities. The cask was fabricated with an outer and inner shell of hot rolled low carbon steel. Lead was poured in the annular space between the shells to provide radiation shielding. Carbon steel is known to be susceptible to lowtemperature brittle fracture under impact loading. This paper will present the analysis results representing postulated transportation accidents during on-site transfers of the cask. The accident scenarios were based on a series of cask drops onto a rigid surface from a height of 6 ft assuming brittle failure of the cask shell at subzero temperatures. Finite element models of the cask and its contents were solved and post processed using ABAQUS software. Each model was examined for failure to contain radioactive materials and/or significant loss of radiation shielding. Results of these analyses show that the body of the cask exhibits considerable ruggedness and will remain largely intact after the impact. There will be deformation of the main cask body with localized brittle failure of the cask outer shell and components and but no complete penetration of the cask shielding. The cask payload outer waste can will experience some permanent plastic deformation in …

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The overarching driver for developing a formalized process to achieve safeguards by design is to support the global growth of nuclear power while reducing ‘nuclear security’ risks. This paper discusses an institutional approach to the design process for a nuclear facility, for designing proliferation resistance, international safeguards and U.S. national safeguards and security into new nuclear facilities. In the United States, the need exists to develop a simple, concise, formalized, and integrated approach for incorporating international safeguards and other non-proliferation considerations into the facility design process. An effective and efficient design process is one which clearly defines the functional requirements at the beginning of the project and provides for the execution of the project to achieve a reasonable balance among competing objectives in a cost effective manner. Safeguards by Design is defined as “the integration of international and national safeguards, physical security and non-proliferation features as full and equal partners in the design process of a nuclear energy system or facility,” with the objective to achieve facilities that are intrinsically more robust while being less expensive to safeguard and protect. This Safeguards by Design process has been developed such that it: • Provides improved safeguards, security, and stronger proliferation barriers, …

With spiraling energy demand and flat energy supply, there is a need to extend the life of older nuclear reactors. This sometimes requires that existing systems be evaluated to present day seismic codes. Older reactors built in the 1960s and early 1970s often used fabricated piping components that were code compliant during their initial construction time period, but are outside the standard parameters of present-day piping codes. There are several approaches available to the analyst in evaluating these non-standard components to modern codes. The simplest approach is to use the flexibility factors and stress indices for similar standard components with the assumption that the non-standard component’s flexibility factors and stress indices will be very similar. This approach can require significant engineering judgment. A more rational approach available in Section III of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, which is the subject of this paper, involves calculation of flexibility factors using finite element analysis of the non-standard component. Such analysis allows modeling of geometric and material nonlinearities. Flexibility factors based on these analyses are sensitive to the load magnitudes used in their calculation, load magnitudes that need to be consistent with those produced by the linear system analyses where the …

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), is one of the world’s premier test reactors for providing the capability for studying the effects of intense neutron and gamma radiation on reactor materials and fuels. The physical configuration of the ATR, a 4-leaf clover shape, allows the reactor to be operated at different power levels in the corner “lobes” to allow for different testing conditions for multiple simultaneous experiments. The combination of high flux (maximum thermal neutron fluxes of 1E15 neutrons per square centimeter per second and maximum fast [E>1.0 MeV] neutron fluxes of 5E14 neutrons per square centimeter per second) and large test volumes (up to 122 cm long and 12.7 cm diameter) provide unique testing opportunities. For future research, some ATR modifications and enhancements are currently planned. In 2007 the US Department of Energy designated the ATR as a National Scientific User Facility (NSUF) to facilitate greater access to the ATR for material testing research by a broader user community. This paper provides more details on some of the ATR capabilities, key design features, experiments, and plans for the NSUF.

This paper introduces a novel augmentation to the current heuristic usability evaluation methodology. The SPAR-H human reliability analysis method was developed for categorizing human performance in nuclear power plants. Despite the specialized use of SPAR-H for safety critical scenarios, the method also holds promise for use in commercial off-the-shelf software usability evaluations. The SPAR-H method shares task analysis underpinnings with human-computer interaction, and it can be easily adapted to incorporate usability heuristics as performance shaping factors. By assigning probabilistic modifiers to heuristics, it is possible to arrive at the usability error probability (UEP). This UEP is not a literal probability of error but nonetheless provides a quantitative basis to heuristic evaluation. When combined with a consequence matrix for usability errors, this method affords ready prioritization of usability issues.

Reliability of CPV systems' materials is not well known; methods for accelerated UV testing have not been developed. UV and IR spectra transmitted through representative optical systems are evaluated.

Historically, the absence of interconnection standards has been one of the primary barriers to the deployment of distributed generation (DG) in the United States. Although significant progress in the development of interconnection standards was achieved at both the federal and state levels in 2005, interconnection policy and net-metering policy continue to confound regulators, lawmakers, DG businesses, clean-energy advocates and consumers. For this reason it is critical to keep track of developments related to these issues. The North Carolina Solar Center (NCSC) is home to two Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) projects -- the National Interconnection Project and the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE). This paper will present the major federal and state level policy developments in interconnection and net metering in 2005 and early 2006. It will also present conclusions based an analysis of data collected by these two projects.

During fiscal year 1999, a total of nine 18-inch diameter test canisters were fabricated at the Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) to represent the standardized Department of Energy (DOE) Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) canister design. Various "worst case" internal loadings were incorporated. Seven of the test canisters were 15-foot long and weighed approximately 6000 pounds, while two were 10-foot long and weighed 3000 and 3800 pounds. Seven of the test canisters were dropped from thirty feet onto an essentially unyielding flat surface and one of the test canisters was dropped from 40-inches onto a 6-inch diameter puncture post. The final test canister was dropped from 24 inches onto a 2-inch thick vertically oriented steel plate, and then tipped over to impact another 2-inch thick vertically oriented steel plate. This last test was attempting to represent a canister dropping onto another larger container such as a repository disposal container. All drop testing was performed at Sandia National Laboratory (SNL). The nine test canisters experienced varying degrees of damage to their skirts, lifting rings, and pressure boundary components (heads and main body). However, all of the canisters were shown to have maintained their pressure boundary (through pressure testing), and the …

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We have previously demonstrated and reported on the use of sub-field speckle processing for the enhancement of both near and far-range surveillance imagery of people and vehicles that have been degraded by atmospheric turbulence. We have obtained near diffraction-limited imagery in many cases and have shown dramatic image quality improvement in other cases. As it is possible to perform only a limited number of experiments in a limited number of conditions, we have developed a computer simulation capability to aid in the prediction of imaging performance in a wider variation of conditions. Our simulation capability includes the ability to model extended scenes in distributed turbulence. Of great interest is the effect of the isoplanatic angle on speckle imaging performance as well as on single deformable mirror and multiconjugate adaptive optics system performance. These angles are typically quite small over horizontal and slant paths. This paper will begin to explore these issues which are important for predicting the performance of both passive and active horizontal and slant-path imaging systems.

The Pierre Auger Observatory data have been analyzed to search for excesses of events near the direction of the galactic center in several energy ranges around EeV energies. In this region the statistics accumulated by the Observatory are already larger than that of any previous experiment. Using both the data sets from the surface detector and our hybrid data sets (events detected simultaneously by the surface detector and the fluorescence detector) we do not find any significant excess. At our present level of understanding of the performance and properties of our detector, our results do not support the excesses reported by AGASA and SUGAR experiments. We set an upper bound on the flux of cosmic rays arriving within a few degrees from the galactic center in the energy range from 0.8-3.2 EeV. We also have searched for correlations of cosmic ray arrival directions with the galactic plane and with the super-galactic plane at energies in the range 1-5 EeV and above 5 EeV and have found no significant excess.

Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from Sagittarius A. Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and fluorescence detectors (the ''hybrid'' data set), which have better pointing accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not show any significant localized excess from this direction.

Abstract. In 2001, a multi-agency study was conducted to characterize potential environmental effects from radiological and chemical contaminants on the near-shore environment of the Columbia River at the 300 Area of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. Historically, the 300 Area was the location of nuclear fuel fabrication and was the main location for research and development activities from the 1940s until the late 1980s. During past waste handling practices uranium, copper, and other heavy metals were routed to liquid waste streams and ponds near the Columbia River shoreline. The Washington State Department of Health and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Surface Environmental Surveillance Project sampled various environmental components including river water, riverbank spring water, sediment, fishes, crustaceans, bivalve mollusks, aquatic insects, riparian vegetation, small mammals, and terrestrial invertebrates for analyses of radiological and chemical constituents. The radiological analysis results for water and sediment were used as initial input into the RAD-BCG Calculator. The RAD-BCG Calculator, a computer program that uses an Excel® spreadsheet and Visual Basic® software, showed that maximum radionuclide concentrations measured in water and sediment were lower than the initial screening criteria for concentrations to produce dose rates at existing or proposed limits. Radionuclide concentrations measured …